Craig Breen Passes Away in WRC Croatia Pretest

This morning Hyundai Motorsports delivered some very unfortunate news. WRC rally Championship driver Craig Breen passed away today in a pre testing accident in Croatia. Hyundai released the following statement via twitter:

The 33 year old driver was scheduled to race part time this season after a second place finish at WRC Sweden. His journey to WRC was a legacy of hard work and dedication having come up through the WRC Academy, Junior an dWRC2 ranks staring in 2011. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem expressed the FIA’s condolences by stating, “Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones and the Rally community at this difficult time.’ Not further comment from Hyundai will be made at this time. Our prayers and condolences go out to Craig Breen’s family, friends and fans during this unfortunate time.

WRC Mexico returns to the 2023 calendar after taking a 2 year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Spirits were high from the WRC fans as the Guanajuato Rally kicked off on Friday for what would be an event filled weekend filled with highs and lows for the competitors. In general the driver reception was very high. Round winner Sébastien Ogier driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing stated, “It’s always a special place to come and compete. The fans and the people really give this one a really nice atmosphere and Thursday night is always amazing.” This win marks his 7th in Mexico setting the record alongside 2023 co-driver Vincent Landais. Ogier and Landais secured the win after 23 stages finishing 27.5s seconds ahead of rival Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team driver Thierry Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe.

Ogier and Landais won 5 stages at the WRC Mexico round. Neuville and Wydaeghe also won 5 stages but lost time towards the end of the weekend. However, Ogier displayed superior tire management and minimize unnecessary risks in the mid stages to carve out a comfortable lead that the Toyota Gazoo front man was able to hold on to from stage 11 until the end of the round.

Lappi Crash

Stage 15 was cancelled due to an accident involving Esapekka Lappi. Lappi lost rear grip of his Hyundai, sending him into a spin into a telephone pole. The back half of the car was completely destroyed and eventually lead to a fire that was quickly contained. An even more painful realization for Lappi is that the crash occurred when he was leading the stage. Lappi said, “It was very very unfortunate. It is hard to swallow but on the other hand when you fight for the win you still need to push and maybe I was not pushing hard enough actually.” Other drivers also complained about a lack of grip Saturday as the stages progressed into the afternoon. Despite the stage 15 cancellation the rest of the field was able to push through without major incident.

M-Sort Ford driver Ott Tänak was not able to repeat his success from WRC Sweden after falling substantially behind after a turbo unit failure on Friday. Tänak was able to secure 4 stage wins to climb back to 9th to finish off the weekend. Next up is WRC Croatia, which is primarily an asphalt round that will take place starting April 20th 2023. Be sure to tune in to WRC+ to catch the next round here.

Round 3 of the World Rally Championship (WRC) Guanajuato Rally Mexico kicks off this weekend March 16th-19th 2023 after a 2 year sabbatical from the series. This will be the first gravel based round of the season. With high desert temperatures on the horizon, this round will be the ultimate test of man and car. The stages will take place in the mountains of the state of Guanajuato. The driver will have to navigated dusty, wind and sand dunes at 2700+meters above sea level which will have drastic impacts on power output for the cars.

There will be 23 stages that cover a route totaling to 971.32km traveled from start to finish. The hot and dusty terrain will be a huge switch in the conditions WRC drivers have experienced thus far. Coming from WRC Rally Sweden which is dominantly a snow driven event and WRC Rallye Monte Carlo which is geared more toward asphalt and unpredictable mountain weather; WRC Mexico will be the first testament to how the newest generation of cars handle in the gravel in 2023.

You can check out the World Rally Championship (WRC) Guanajuato Rally Mexico trailer here:

You can find more details regarding the event schedule here. For live video and timing as well as exclusive access to driver onboards and live map tracking be sure to check out WRC+, the official live stream and video channel of the FIA World Rally Championship.

First held in 1950, WRC Rally Sweden remains one of the most iconic races on the WRC calendar and the 2023 campaign was nothing short of epic. WRC Rally Sweden 2023 featured 18 rally stages in a weekend full of ups, downs, copious amounts of snow and some rivalries reignited. 6 teams walked away as stage winners this round with one team emerging as the overall round winner in statement making fashion.

Driver Ott Tänaka ended the a 385 day victory drought at M-Sport Ford and soared to the top of the table in the title race. Tänak had previously driven for M-Sport in 2011 and 2017 before spending a few stents with rival teams Toyota and Hyundai. “It obviously means a lot to me, to come into a new car and deliver to these guys [at M-Sport].” Tänak said. “It’s a big effort for them to fight against such big manufacturers. I’m sure they’re getting quite a bit of stress from me, but as long as it’s delivering then we are all winning. It’s great to be part of this team.”

In his second appearance for M-Sport in 2023 Tänak claimed a commanding victory against rival Craig Breen; Italian driver for Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team whom ended round two 18.7 seconds behind Tänak. In surprising fashion, M-Sport only won one stage out of the 18 for the weekend but were able to stay at the top of the table to secure a final P1 position.

In the Hyundai camp Thierry Neuville won five stages and Breen won four but due to an untimely mistake running wide in one instance and then crashing into the snow banks in another the call from team principal Cyril Abiteboul ended in failure to secure Neuville third position in the power stage. “It didn’t work, but I think we have done the right thing from the team perspective,” he said. Neuville who is a full season driver is a championship contender while Breen will only be participating in half the season. Thus the team was trying to maximize their position by placing team orders that would secure a higher finish for Neuville. However, a little bit of bad luck cost them. Despite the unforeseen error Hyundai walks away from Sweden with 9 stage wins and P2 and P3 finishes for the round bumping Neuville into P3 in the championship. These types of decisions are part of motorsports and things don’t always fall in your favor. Hyundai still stands by the decision and it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season unfolds. For more information on upcoming WRC races visit WRC.com

Check out the 2023 Season scheduled here:

Round	Start date	Finish date	Rally	Rally headquarters	Surface
1	19 January	22 January	Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Mixed
2	9 February	12 February	Rally Sweden	Umeå, Västerbotten County, Sweden	Snow
3	16 March	19 March	Rally Guanajuato México	León, Guanajuato, Mexico	Gravel
4	20 April	23 April	Croatia Rally	Zagreb, Croatia	Tarmac
5	11 May	14 May	Rally de Portugal	Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal	Gravel
6	1 June	4 June	Rally Italia Sardegna	Olbia, Sardinia, Italy	Gravel
7	22 June	25 June	Safari Rally Kenya	Naivasha, Nakuru County, Kenya	Gravel
8	20 July	23 July	Rally Estonia	Tartu, Tartu County, Estonia	Gravel
9	3 August	6 August	Rally Finland	Jyväskylä, Central Finland, Finland	Gravel
10	7 September	10 September	Acropolis Rally Greece	Lamia, Central Greece, Greece	Gravel
11	28 September	1 October	Rally Chile	Concepción, Biobío, Chile	Gravel
12	26 October	29 October	Central Europe Rally	Passau, Bavaria, Germany	Tarmac
13	16 November	19 November	Rally Japan	Toyota, Chūbu region, Japan	Tarmac

American Rally Association: This press release was not authored by Speed Trap Magazine Staff. Read the original press release: Green APU Signs as Title Sponsor of the American Rally Association
By Jeremy Meyer

Speedway, Ind. ~ The American Rally Association, the premier stage rally series in the United State, is proud to announce that it has reached an agreement with Green APU to become the series title sponsor.

The partnership between the ARA and Green APU includes naming rights to the ARA’s National championship. Starting in 2023, the national championship will officially be named the Green APU National Rally Championship.

“This is an exciting day for stage rally in the United States,” said ARA Business and Marketing Director, Jeremy Meyer. “Green APU is bringing an amazing amount of support to the ARA for the next three years. They have a deep passion for rallying and share our vision on how we can help grow this sport. They will bring valuable resources that will help us build better competition, as well as the ability to showcase the ARA to the world.”  

Green APU has been a fixture in the rally community over the past two decades. The Chicago-based company’s founder, Arkadiusz “Art” Gruszka, had a successful career, including his championship season in 2017 when he tallied four overall wins. In 2021, his son, Patrick, took over the wheel and has been a top competitor in the ARA the past two seasons. He finished the 2022 season sixth overall and will begin his 2023 championship campaign at the Sno*Drift Rally in Atlanta, Mich., February 10-11.

“Rally in the United States has picked up a lot of momentum,” said Art Gruszka. “We have such great roads in America, and the world needs to know about them. It is our goal to bring rally enthusiasts to compete in a series that offers an even playing field. We want to see big crowds and more competition that is fair for everyone. This is a perfect opportunity for Green APU.”

The 2023 Green APU National Rally Championship will feature eight national rounds, starting in February and finishing in October at the Lake Superior Performance Rally. To learn more about the ARA, go to https://www.americanrallyassociation.org.

About Green APU: Green APU is an industry leader in Auxiliary Power Units, offering the most versatile, convenient and durable APU’s for the semi-truck market. To learn more about Green APU and its products, go to: https://greenapu.com.

The 2023 ARA Rally Car Championship is kicking off the season in Atlanta, Michigan for the one and only true winter racing stop of the series. Sno* Drift Rally will take place in Atlanta, Michigan 10-11Feb2023. The race is unique in that local county law does not allow studded tires on public highways so drivers must ford the snowy course flirt on the edge of speed and stability. These conditions equalize the competition and create one of the few races where team budget advantages are eliminated and all racers have a shot at victory. Check out this video produced by the Dirtfish crew.

You can check out more ARA rally events across the USA this season as well. Listed below is the schedule for all 8 stops of the tour. If you plan on making it out to Sno* Drift our team will be out there fighting through the cold with you.

For more information on Sno* Drift check out the ARA website